Perdomo Reserve Maduro “F” Wednesday, Feb 28 2007 

Cigar Reviews and Perdomo Matt 11:05 pm


Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: Figurado 4.75″x52 ring
(for a detailed description of the points system I use please click here.)

I decided after smoking the Los Blancos Maduro that I wanted to stick with the maduro theme and review a few maduros in a row. To that end I smoked a Perdomo Reserve Maduro tonight. Perdomo is in a bit of a resurgence as of late. The quality of their cigars has been notably better and they have released some good new lines like the Lot 23′s. The Reserves I have smoked lately have been very good. Here’s my take on the Maduro “F”.

Appearance and Construction – 9/10
The Perdomo Reserve Maduro is a Nicaraguan Puro. This cigar has a smooth dark brown wrapper though a lighter shade of brown than many other maduros. It is slightly oily with just a few very small veins. It is a very good looking cigar and the most striking thing about it is it’s shape. I love the “F” shape that Perdomo has come up with. It is very unique being just a 44 ring gauge at the head it flares out to a chunky 56 ring before tapering back down to a 52 at the foot. It looks cool and sits very nicely in your grip. The cigar is packed full of tobacco and feels nice and firm down it’s length with no soft spots. It is a very well made cigar.

Flavor – 16/20
This smoke starts off a bit peppery and lacks that sweetness often associated with your typical maduro. After about the first inch it mellows a bit and changes from peppery to an earthy flavor with nutty undertones and black pepper on a long finish. It is a solid medium bodied smoke and has a mild buzz factor. A very enjoyable cigar.

Smoking Characteristics – 8/10
The cigar lit easily and produced lots of thick creamy white smoke. The burn was a little jagged but remained fairly even. The ash was white spotted with black and it held firm. It was a little papery on the edges but didn’t have a problems with flaking off during the smoke.

Price – 4/5
This cigar retails for just under $5. The construction and flavor of this cigar makes it a great deal at that price in my opinion.

Conclusion
This is a great little cigar with excellent construction and great flavors. The shape is really unique and adds to the enjoyment of the cigar. If you like maduros this one is a must try, especially if you like figurados. The next maduro I will review will be a Camacho SLR Maduro.

The Math
37/4.5 = 8.22*10 = 82.2

 

Los Blancos Maduro Robusto Saturday, Feb 24 2007 

Cigar Reviews and Misc Matt 5:50 pm

Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan w/ Honduran Binder
Size: Robusto 5.0″x52 ring
(for a detailed description of the points system I use please click here.)

I believe this is a fairly new cigar but I am not sure. It is new in the humidor of my local cigar shop anyway. The rep is always handing these out every time he comes through so I figured I’d give it a try.

Appearance and Construction – 7/10
Not a bad looking cigar with a nice presentation. It sports a bright yellow band near the head and a second band wrapped around the foot. The wrapper is applied very well, smooth with no creases. It is well filled and has a well applied cap that clipped nicely. There was one of the largest rib veins I’ve ever seen in a cigar in the head and the maduro wrapper was very dark brown and splotchy. The pre-light draw was very good with just the right amount of resistance.

Flavor – 10/20
This is mild smoke with straight forward flavors. I found it to be a bit one dimensional. Just your basic tobacco with a slight hint of chocolate and a typical maduro sweetness. The finish was woody and a little bitter. It never changed or did anything to hold my attention.

Smoking Characteristics – 6/10
A weak cigar with no real buzz factor to speak of. The burn was decent never needing any manual correction but I couldn’t call it a straight burn. The ash was dark grey and flaky and didn’t hold for very long. I needed to tap it every inch or so.

Price – 2/5
I did get this cigar for free but I believe these retail for just under $5 a stick. At that price point, this cigar lands in a pretty saturated market. There are a ton of cigars to choose from in the $4-$6 range, and many of those choices provide a more interesting and enjoyable smoke. As mild as this cigar is, at this price it may be good for a beginner but is not something a seasoned cigar smoker would enjoy.

Conclusion
This is a very mild cigar with decent construction. Like I said above, it would probably appeal to a new cigar smoker that enjoys a mild smoke and a small price tag. If you enjoy a more robust and complex smoke you definitely want to pass on this one.

The Math
25/4.5 = 5.55*10 = 55.5

 

Vegas Cubanas Imperiales Friday, Feb 23 2007 

Cigar Reviews and Pepin Garcia Matt 9:59 am

Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Filler: Nicaraguan Long Filler
Size: Torpedo 61/8”x52 ring

This is another one of Pepin Garcia’s cigars. It’s a rustic looking cigar with a slightly rough looking light brown wrapper. It is well filled with no soft spots and a nice medium draw. It took a light nicely and though the burn wasn’t razor sharp it remained fairly even throughout the smoke. It started off kind of harsh and bitter but only took a minute or so to smooth out nicely. It produced a large volume of creamy smoke. It is a moderately strong cigar, medium in body. The dominate flavors were leather and cedar with a woody finish. The flavors stayed pretty consistent. It is a good cigar, slightly over priced at just under $7 in my opinion. Not my favorite cigar from Pepin, but a good smoke.

Rating – B

 

The Move is Permanent Thursday, Feb 22 2007 

Site News Matt 9:00 pm

Well, I received a bunch of off-line feedback on the new WordPress version of my blog and it was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone liked the new digs and new features and I am pretty happy with the features and service at WordPress. So this is it. The new home of Matt’s Cigar Journal. Time to go delete the old blog and post the redirect. I decided to take a snapshot of the old blog as a remembrance…

 

My Journal’s New Home Sunday, Feb 18 2007 

Site News Matt 6:46 am

I have been thinking of moving the blog to a new host with some better features than what were offered by it’s original home. Take a look around here and then leave a comment on this post letting me know what you think. Most of you probably got here via a link from my Blogspot blog. If not and you found this place directly, and your interested in seeing the other version of ths blog, click here. Let me know what you think of the Blogspot blog versus this WordPress blog.

 

Site Enhancement Monday, Feb 12 2007 

Site News Matt 6:26 pm

I have begun labeling all of my posts, essentially putting them into categories. You will see these labels just under the Title of each post. Some posts may have more than one label. I have also added a Categories section on the left. When you click a Category you are taken to a page that displays all of the posts that share that label. So for example, if you click on Cigar Reviews, you are taken to a page that displays all of the cigar reviews I have posted. Similarly if you click on My Stuff, you are taken to a page that displays all the posts that relate to my things I’ve posted about, like my poker table or pictures of my humidors or box purchases. If you click on the Label in the post it pulls up a WordPress search based on that label (not all that useful in my opinion). For now I have 5 labels. They are as follows:

Cigar Reviews – All of my cigar reviews I have posted.
Cigar News – tidbits of info, some cigar related… some not.
My Stuff – Posts about my stuff (like pics of my humidors, ect.)
Matt’s Favs – This will bring up cigar reviews of my favorite smokes.
Fundraisers – Displays posts about fundraisers I take part in.

I am currently in the process of going back through my old posts and adding labels to them. Until I finish that process the contents of each category my be incomplete. I hope this new feature will help to make the site a little easier to navigate and find what you are looking for. I know going through the Archive links can be a bit cumbersome.

At the bottom of each page when using the Categories there will be “Next Page” and “Previous Page” links if more content is available.

 

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 197 other followers